Saturday, December 17, 2011

Christmas A-Go-Go - Part One

Another December weekend Post Of Christmas Past. Originally, it took four individual posts to cover this CD, but I'm hoping to handle it in two parts this time around.

Guitarist/actor/radio show host Little Steven Van Zandt morphed into a crazed Santa for this ambitious 2008 holiday compilation, determined to find just the right gift for everyone on his list. Fortunately, he doesn’t care if the recipients are naughty or nice, just as long as they listen to his syndicated weekly program, Underground Garage. The presents are rock and roll holiday songs, many of which would be unavailable if not for Little Steven’s generosity.

An ultra rare recording of Keith Richards romping through the Chuck Berry chestnut “Run Rudolph Run” kicks things off in a blues-rock vein. As Little Steven has pointed out on his show, this tale of the jet-speed flying reindeer helping St. Nick deliver toys was not composed by Berry, even though the rock pioneer certainly made it his own. Richards pretty much sticks to the original arrangement, but his hoarse vocals and energetic guitar playing enable him to put his stamp on it.

Bob Seger And The Last Heard’s funky “Sock It To Me Santa” is another treasure from the vault. Sounding like fellow Detroit native Mitch Ryder, Seger taps into vintage Motown as he barks out a litany of requests for toys. He proclaims in a spoken word intro that Santa’s got a brand new bag, and as the tune rolls along to a bottom heavy backbeat, it’s easy to imagine Santa wearing a long cape and looking a lot like James Brown. The Ramones bring their instantly identifiable revved-up sound to “Merry Christmas (I Don’t Want To Fight Tonight)” as Joey Ramone plays the role of a guy pining for a holiday truce with his girlfriend. “Christmas aint the time for breaking each other’s hearts,” he notes.

I’m guessing that “All Alone On Christmas,” which features vocalist Darlene Love being backed by The E Street Band, has to be one of Little Steven’s favorite tracks on the CD. And not just because he wrote it and plays guitar on it. Love, of course, was part of the roster of stars on the Phil Spector produced A Christmas Gift For You, which many consider to be the best rock and roll Christmas album ever recorded. With Clarence Clemons blasting away on his sax, and just about everybody else in the band singing along, “All Alone On Christmas” beautifully melds modern rock and the 1960s. Ringing guitars and great harmonies help current Brit rockers The Len Price 3 hark back to the original British Invasion on “It’s Christmas Time Ebenezer.”

On the relentlessly cheerful “I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday,” Roy Wood’s Wizzard uses the Wall Of Sound approach of Phil Spector’s A Christmas Gift For You to build an entire palace. As a founding member of Electric Light Orchestra, Wood was accustomed to working with stringed instruments, and he employs a ton of them, along with horns, and a children’s choir on this showstopper. The energetic production evokes an old fashioned TV variety show.

Tina Sugandh’s beautifully sung “White Christmas” begins with the standard arrangement, but soon drifts off to India via exotic sitars and tablas. If George Harrison had wanted to include a Christmas song on Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, it would have sounded like this.

There are more than three musicians in the Chesterfield Kings, and their knack for tapping into Aftermath era Rolling Stones has earned them a place of honor among garage rock fans like Mr. Van Zandt. “Hey, Santa Claus” was probably one of the first tracks he considered when he decided to create this party-themed holiday compilation. It kicks off with a classic Chuck Berry riff before lead vocalist Greg Prevost approaches the man in red with a list of requests, including a girlfriend and a new car. Sounding like Mick Jagger, Prevost sings, “I hope you have time to stop off in your sleigh.”

Former Stray Cats vocalist-guitarist Brian Setzer launched a lucrative second career by recreating the Big Band sound of the 1940s. He struck gold again when his Brian Setzer Orchestra started recording Christmas CDs like Dig That Crazy Christmas and Boogie Woogie Christmas. “Santa’s Got A Hot Rod,” with its highly energetic swinging arrangement, call-and response vocals, and twangy guitar, is a prime example of how Setzer gets the job done. And like most of his work, it’s a lot of fun.

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About This Blog

Broken Hearted Toy is an eclectic celebration of creativity, with over 2,000 posts since 2009.

It's based in Chicago but covers power pop, garage, cutting-edge, and 1960s rock from around the globe; along with occasional bits on art; literature; and theatre.

Top of the hill is a nice place to be at. - - - "Elevated Observations" by The Hollies.

Check out some of my previoius creative endeavors.

Sunday Morning Coffee With Jeff was a weekly Internet show created by and starring Jeff Kelley. It mostly consisted of comedy bits and obscure 1960s garage rock set to vintage TV and film clips but also spotlighted entertainment events around Illinois.

My wife Pam and I created a handful of series (each episode was about two minutes long) that were shown on Sunday Morning Coffee With Jeff. They included Manchester Gallery (see description below); Old Days, which I hosted in the persona of a cranky old man named Fritz Willoughby; Roving Reporter, where I played the clueless title character; What's With Terry?, a performance arts program; and Hanging With The Hollies, a takeoff on Breakfast With The Beatles.

I've also worked with Kelley and Willy Deal on comedy clips, and with Kelley and David Metzger on films for the annual Nightmare on Chicago Street Halloween festival in Elgin.

I'm particularly proud of this 21-episode comedy series Pam and I created for Sunday Morning Coffee With Jeff. Each installment was a few minutes long, and featured me portraying Terrence, the curator of a pop culture museum.

I was a staff writer for this Chicago-based magazine from 1987 to 2015. The Illinois Entertainer has been covering rock music for over 40 years, and can be found in stores and entertainment venues, as well as in an online edition.

Chicago Art Machine was a web-based publishing company run by Editor-in-Chief, Kathryn Born, and Managing Editor, Robin Dluzen, that included Chicago Art Magazine, Chicago DIY Film,Chicago Performance And Trailers, and TINC. Most of my submissions appeared in Chicago DIY Film and Chicago Performance And Trailers, although I contributed to all the online Chicago Art Machine publications.

I was a writer and performer with this local comedy group from 1989 to 2009. Famous In The Future continues to perform in the Chicago area, and appeared at every one of the Abbie Hoffman Died For Our Sinstheatre festivals that were held at the Mary-Arrchie Theatre. Since the closing of the Mary-Arrchie Theatre a few years ago, Famous In The Future has carried on the tradition by presenting Yippie Fest each year in August.

I'm an active member of SCBWI, (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) and have written two Middle Grade fantasy novels. I've just finished a YA/paranormal novel, and also wrote a suspense/satiric novel that takes place amidst Chicago's alternative music scene in the mid-1980s.

Broken Hearted Toy

The blog title comes from the line, "I'm the brokenhearted toy you play with" in the song "I Can't Let Go" by The Hollies. One of the great original British Invasion bands, The Hollies continue to have an immense influence on power pop bands to this day, and have finally been inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Here is a video of "I Can't Let Go" being performed in 1966.